Octo Canyon
It was chaos for the followers of the now captured captain.
The few members who were with Claire had scattered to tell the rest of them that Acting Leader Octavia was alive and coming after them.
They had no idea what to do now, without the captain leading them what would happen now that it was revealed that they had tried to splat the Acting Leader?
The saucer that Octavia arrived in flew overhead, followed by a loud booming voice, it was broadcasting a message to everyone in Octo Canyon.
"ATTENTION ALL OCTARIANS! YOU HAVE BEEN DECEIVED, THE ACTING LEADER IS ALIVE, ALL OCTARIANS ARE TO PACK UP AND RETURN TO OCTO VALLEY. A COUP D'ETAT WAS ATTEMPTED BY THE 202ND SPLATOON, WE HAVE THEIR LEADER, ANYONE ELSE WHO IS A MEMBER OF THE 202ND IS TO SURRENDER TO THE NEAREST ELITE OCTOLING OR TO THE RESERVE ARMY. REPEAT, ALL OCTARIANS ARE TO RETURN TO OCTO VALLEY, ANYONE WHO IS A MEMBER OF THE 202ND IS TO SURRENDER TO THE NEAREST ELITE OCTOLING OR TO THE RESERVE ARMY."
They had two choices laid in front of them.
Run away into a world dominated by their mortal enemies, or surrender and face the judgement of their own race.
Claire didn't even stop to listen, she and many others never stopped running, Lynn included.
They had put a lot of distance between them and Octo Canyon, finally they stopped for a break and to discuss what to do now.
"We can't go back now, I say we hightail it far from here and never come back." one Octoling suggested
"Where could we go? Staying down here means to risk getting caught by the army, but heading to the surface means we will probably get captured by Inklings." An Octotrooper wondered
"Perhaps it's best that we surrender and hope that Octavia forgives us?" another suggested
"That's impossible, we just tried to splat her a few days ago, no way she'd forgive that."
"I say we keep running."
While the others argued, Claire had already made her choice, silently, she left the group.
"Claire? Where are you going?" Lynn asked
"I'm going back to Octo Canyon."
She blamed herself for not reaching the captain in time.
"You are surrendering?"
"Yes, if I had warned the captain earlier then she wouldn't have gotten caught, besides as the camp adjutant I must stay with the captain at all times."
Claire felt that for her failure, she should at least see the captain off.
There were others who felt the same way.
"If you are going, then I will too" an Octotrooper joined Claire
"So will I." came the voice of another Octotrooper
"Me too" an Octoling joined in
However not everyone was on board with this idea.
"Have you all lost your minds?!" another Octotrooper yelled
"If you all go back, you'll be executed for treason against the state." an Octoling pointed out
"Yes exactly, so we should keep running and hide somewhere."
Lynn kept listening and watching as the two groups argued
Claire and one half wanted to go back and surrender
The other half wanted to run and hide
Without someone like the captain leading them, the splatoon had already fallen into disarray.
'If we go back, Octavia might have mercy on us."
"No way, the captain didn't trust Octavia at all, so you shouldn't either, you guys can go back, we are leaving!"
As they splatoon debated on what to do, they started getting roused up, it looked like there would be infighting at any moment.
"Fine then, you go hide in some hole for the rest of your life, we will stay by the captain's side till the end."
In the end, half the 202nd splatoon went into hiding, while another half went to surrender.
Lynn was left alone, standing where the 202nd had split up.
Claire and the others drew further and further away.
"Wait Claire!" Lynn called out
Claire stopped to hear her out, leaving the rest of the surrendering group to walk on ahead.
"What should I do now?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"I don't know what to do and how can you give up so easily?"
"Because I believed in the captain and I failed her, whatever punishment Octavia has got planned I should be a part of it." Claire didn't even need to think about it, she already had her reasons lined up.
Lynn always wondered how she could decide so quickly, it somewhat amazed her.
"What about your family, they need you."
"There is no way I can help them now, they will need to survive on their own.."
Cold as it may seem, Claire knew that the moment Octavia gave them that suicide mission, that she could no longer help her family. If they had followed Octavia's orders they would be splatted and her family would have no one capable of working, and now whether or not she runs or surrenders, the result is the same.
Claire started walking again.
"Hold on! I should come with you." Lynn said, running after her
"Don't"
"?"
Claire could see it, Lynn might be agreeing to come with her, but she didn't want to surrender to Octavia, she was afraid of being punished, but she was also afraid of living in the wild on her own.
"I've said it before, if you believe in what we are doing, then don't follow along."
"But what else can I do?"
"Don't ask me, now is your time to choose, you can hide or surrender…."
Lynn had nothing to say
She couldn't choose between those two
"...or maybe, find another solution."
"Like what?" Lynn looked at Claire expecting her to come up with something, however Claire had no other idea.
"I don't know, i've already made my choice, don't worry, you'll have some time to think while Octavia is dealing with us, goodbye now, I was glad to have served with you Lynn."
Even though Claire was ranked higher than Lynn, she still saluted her before leaving for Octo Canyon.
Lynn watched as her friend travelled off.
'You keep telling me to choose this and that, but it's really not that easy for me!'
"Sigh" Lynn sat on the ground clutching her knees.
What was there to do now?
'I can't just run, I won't be able to survive on my own. I can't surrender either, i'll be executed for treason.'
Lynn couldn't choose, she anxiously drew circles in the dirt with her finger while trying to come up with a decision.
'Maybe I could blend in and live in Octo Valley under an alias?
Maybe I could find the others who ran and live with them?'
She was trying to come up with a third choice
'Maybe I can make a deal with the army to help find the others?' she even considered selling out her colleagues but couldn't actually do it, she wasn't the type to only look out for herself.
'Maybe I can make a deal with someone else..'
Lynn stood up
She might have found a solution.
'Octo Valley was split into two, just as Claire said and right now Octavia's side is winning, in order to turn the tables I need to bring in a third side to whittle down Octavia's side.
Madison, Claire and I…. we made a deal with an Inkling before, maybe I can do so again.'
Lynn walked in the direction of Octo Valley, but not to the undercity or to any of the kettles.
She headed for the shack outside the manhole to Inkopolis.
'I hope the New Squidbeak Splatoon is in a good mood today.'
Meanwhile back at Octo Canyon, the main army had arrived, the civilians were being rounded up and the tents and other temporary lodgings were being packed up.
In a less busy corner sat a Octavia's saucer, every now and then an Elite Octoling or two would come by and make a report.
Inside the saucer wasn't just Octavia, but the captured captain as well, she sat quietly still wearing her Elite Octoling gear, bound to a seat with her arms, legs and tentacles all tied up so that she could not possibly move.
She could hear someone talking in the distance
"Acting leader, we captured around half of the 202nd splatoon now, but the others must have fled."
"Then keep looking for them, and tell the Reserve army to make up for their mistake and bring the civilians back to Octo Valley."
"Yes ma'am"
This was followed by footsteps, Octavia's footsteps.
The captain found herself alone with Acting Leader Octavia inside the saucer.
If she hadn't been tied up so well she would have beaten her down easily, she was sure of it.
For now, all they could do was talk
"You got lucky this time, but it doesn't matter, there will always be more like me."
Octavia just laughed, the captain's words were nothing more than the cry of a loser.
"And what makes you think that? Even if one or two of your subordinates get away, there is nothing they can do to oppose me."
"You are really clueless aren't you, those Octarians chose to do this because you were going to order them on a suicide mission. If you keep making decisions like that, then it won't be long before more and more of the Octarian army start choosing to disobey you."
Octavia however pounded the seat next to the captain, then brought her face really close to the captain's with a menacing look on her face.
"No, you are the one who is clueless, you don't seem to understand the situation here at all. Octavio is gone, his rule is nothing but a distant memory. You have no idea how many years I spent working my way up to be his second in command so I could rule after he eventually fell."
The captain however, was unfazed by Octavia's words.
"So you don't care about Octavio at all, then I won't need to worry at all, especially since the other Elites will rescue him someday."
"You really are stupid, do you think I would allow that?"
"The Elites are loyal to Octavio, not you." The captain said, basically repeating what the Elites told her while she was in charge.
"No, that won't ever happen, I am the new Octavio, the new leader of the Octarians and I will not be stopped by anyone, not by you, or Octavio, or the Elites, or the Inklings or anyone else! This is my time, my era and anyone who follows in your footsteps will be put down will full force." Octavia declared, since no other Octarian was within earshot she wasn't afraid of anyone overhearing her.
'She finally said it.' the captain thought 'She just wants to rule Octo Valley.'
Now it was the captain's turn to laugh
"Haha, If that's what you think, then you are even more stupid than I thought."
What a rebellious captain, continuing to insult her even after being captured instead of begging for forgiveness. Octavia couldn't hold herself back and delivered a powerful punch to the captain's face.
But that only shut her up for a brief moment.
With a smug look on her now bruising face, the captain continued to mock Octavia's leadership
"The Octarians who followed me did so out of faith, they knew I had their best interests in mind. but you-"
Her voice was cut off by the sound of another punch connecting to her face, the captain grunted then continued
"You make them follow you out of fear, that means no matter what you do they will never trust you as they trust me, someday they will rise up against you."
The captain let out another laugh, before receiving another blow to the face
"Well then, it looks like I don't need to do anything, your downfall is guaranteed. I hope I get a front row seat to watch it when the time comes."
Octavia stopped her assault on the captain and laughed back
She had an idea, a way to make sure this smug traitor wouldn't get the last laugh.
"Hehe, I don't see how that will be possible, considering how you will be executed tomorrow along with all of your subordinates that we've captured…"
The captain's smile disappeared from her face.
She knew she would face execution and readied herself for it, but to execute all her followers was too much.
"No, I the commanding officer, should be the one to receive punishment for forcing the 202nd to rebel." The captain's tone changed entirely, she wasn't going to provoke Octavia any further if the lives of her troops were at stake.
"Oh? But didn't you just say that they all chose to follow you? That makes each of them as guilty as you are."
"I may have embellished a few details, I'm the one at fault here so my execution will be enough."
"You aren't in a position to decide that anymore, Vale."
'Vale' Nobody had ever called the captain by name since she had finished her Elite Octoling training and attained the rank of captain.
Addressing someone by rank was a sign of respect, she had been so well respected to the point where everyone would address her as captain.
But to an Acting Leader, a captain was far below her.
Octavia knew the captain treasured her title and so proceeded to drive another emotional blade into her.
"Now that you've commited such a grave crime, I'm afraid you've lost whatever achievements you've earned during your time in the army." Octavia continued "As if today, you are no longer a captain of the Octarian army, but an ordinary Octoling, do you understand, citizen Emily Vale."
After stripping the captain of her rank, Octavia looked pleased, and she left the captain to see to the captured Octarians.
The captain, now completely alone felt worse than ever.
Not only had she doomed all those good Octarians following her, but she was also the only one who knew about Octavia's true agenda.
Her execution would come soon and with it, any hope for Octo Valley to be freed of this corrupt leader would be lost…
But she had no hope left, her subordinates were too few in number to rescue her, after all they had already lost many Octarians fighting the New Squidbeak Splatoon at Melanin and Agent 3 at Octavio's boss kettle. What remained of the 202nd wasn't much more than 90 Octarians and half of them had already been captured.
Silently, the now former captain could only accept her fate: she would be executed with her title and rank stripped away, and she would die a traitor, no one would ever know why she rebelled.
Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack, Octo Valley
Cap'n Craig Cuttlefish
To the majority of the Inklings he was an old man who kept up with today's fashions, yet would not let go of past problems.
To the New Squidbeak Splatoon, he was kinda odd at times, yet was dependable.
As for the Octarians, he was the biggest threat to Octavio, reason unspecified.
That is why Lynn chose to approach with extreme caution.
She had spent all night trekking to the Cap'n's home from Octo Canyon, she was tired and hungry, but she had more important matters to worry about.
She probably should have left her Octoshot behind, but she kept it with her because she was afraid, she trembled on her way to Cap'n Cuttlefish's home. Holding a weapon in her hands was to help ease off the fear, but it had other consequences.
Cap'n Cuttlefish often kept an eye out of Octarian activity, so he easily spotted Lynn approaching.
If she had come with a group of Octarians, Cuttlefish would have fled.
However she was alone and Cuttlefish knew that Octarian scouts would not be out in the open like that.
So Cuttlefish quickly raised his old Bamboozler, which he now used as a walking stick and took aim.
Lynn had not expected Cuttlefish to have a weapon, so she was surprised when a warning shot passed by.
The bamboozler left a trail of blue ink behind it, but Lynn didn't waste time to look, instead she quickly backed away out of range.
Meanwhile Cuttlefish quickly messaged the three agents to come by, all while keeping his guard up.
Bamboozlers could fire quickly, but could not hold its charge nor splat in one hit, but it did outrange the Octoshot Lynn was using.
Lynn realised that approaching Inkopolis in full Octoling armor while armed was probably not the best idea.
Out of the Bamboozler's range, Lynn pondered what to do now.
Of course that just gave time for Inker to arrive, having just changed to his hero suit.
Lynn's eyes went wide when she saw who had just arrived.
"Agent 3!? Didn't he get splatted?'
Lynn dreaded to face Agent 3 in battle, the one who was supposedly invincible and fought dozens of Octarians by himself, the fact that he stood here even after reportedly being splatted made the rumor of his invincibility even more plausible.
Since Lynn wasn't here to fight in the first place she decided to take a chance and talk.
She tossed her Octoshot away and raised her arms in surrender, prompting Agent 3 to close the distance and see what was up.
"Why are you attacking us alone?" Inker asked
"I-I wasn't, well I understand that it probably looked like I was, b-but honestly I was here to talk." Lynn's voice was still a bit shaky from fear, seeing Agent 3 so close didn't help.
"To talk?"
"Y-Yes, it's probably wrong for me to ask, since we recently squidnapped a bunch of your people but please."
Lynn prostrated herself before Agent 3.
"Please save my splatoon."
Inker was confused, he hadn't done anything recently that would put any Octarians in danger.
"Save them? But from who?"
"The other Octarians."
"?!"
That was something Inker never thought he would hear.
He looked at Cuttlefish, who appeared to be curious.
"I don't understand, why would a splatoon of Octarians need help from me?" Inker asked
"Well umm, we disobeyed orders and went against the acting leader." Lynn clasped her hands together as if to beg and bowed "I'm prepared to offer anything in return, so please go and save my splatoon."
"Uhh"
Inker wasn't sure what to do, sure he felt like he should help all the sea creatures he could, Octarian or not but this whole ordeal seemed fishy.
"Hold on, you are leaving out a lot of important details, first off why did you disobey orders and where is your splatoon now?"
"We were supposed to fly into Inkopolis Plaza and attack, but our captain thought it was suicide, so instead we tried to get rid of the acting leader okay."
Another unexpected event.
"Wait hold on, you guys were planning an air attack on Inkopolis?"
"Yes, so technically we saved you the trouble of fighting us by choosing to oppose the acting leader."
"Where is your splatoon now?"
Lynn sheepishly scratched her head.
"Umm, I don't know."
"Then how am I supposed to save them?"
"Well umm, I thought that maybe you could find them, you found Melanin so easily back then."
Back then it was because Victoria was there, but Victoria wasn't in Octo Valley anymore.
Not that Inker could say that.
'Oh right! If anyone can clear stuff up about the Octarians, its an Octarian from Octo Valley!'
"Hang on a second"
Inker took out his squid phone and dialed Kal's number, hopefully Victoria could shed some light on what was happening.
"Hello?" came Kal's voice
"Sup Kal, is Victoria feeling better? I need to talk to her quickly."
"Yeah sure, hang on."
The sound of Kal calling out to Victoria and the phone switching hands could be heard, then Victoria's voice came over the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi Victoria, it's me Inker, I need to ask a few things about Octo Valley."
Victoria gave a confused "hmm?" sound then said "okay shoot."
"Before you left, did you hear of any plan to overthrow the Octoling replacing Octavio?"
"Nope, there's never been anything like that before. Octarian on Octarian violence hadn't been committed in centuries. Why are you asking?"
"I'm at Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack right now, and there's an Octoling here who is begging me to save her splatoon from the rest of the Octarians."
"That sounds very suspicious, ask her which splatoon exactly, and who is their commanding officer."
"Commanding officer?"
"Their leader…"
Inker turned his attention away from his phone and too Lynn.
"Which splatoon are you from, and who was leading you?" Inker asked Lynn
"It was the 202nd combat group and our commanding officer is usually just referred to as captain, but her name was Emily Vale." Lynn seemed anxious to get help and quickly answered everything without hesitation.
Inker brought the phone back to his ear,
"She says she was part of the 202nd splatoon or something, and that they were lead by a captain named Emily Vale."
"Emily Vale? I never heard that name before, but I know that the 202nd was the splatoon that was guarding Melanin prison when you went to rescue Kal. They were lead by a captain too and a well respected one at that, in fact she was so well respected no one ever addressed her by name so I don't know it either."
"Did she have any reason to go against the other Octarians?"
"No, from what I heard she was pretty much like the other Elites, loyal to Octo Valley and hates Inklings, I did also hear that she was a very strong individual, but I doubt anyone would try to overthrow the acting leader. I think you should be careful, it all sounds like a trap, maybe the 202nd is trying to lure you into a trap as revenge for Melanin prison."
"Yeah I think so too, thanks."
"Your welcome…." There was another voice in the background "Oh and Kal says if you need help, don't be afraid to ask."
"Thanks but I don't think I'll need it."
"Are you sure? Cause when you went to Melanin alone you ended up in big trouble."
"I'm sure thanks, goodbye."
As soon as Inker hung up, Lynn spoke.
"Well?" she asked, eyes full of hope that Agent 3 might help out.
"You were the ones guarding Melanin prison right?."
Lynn nodded
"So then why would you turn against the other Octarians."
"I told you, we would have been sent on a suicide mission!"
"Why is a splatoon of prison guards getting orders from the army?"
"We are part of the army! Melanin was a military prison since technically the Inklings we captured were prisoners of war…." Lynn's voice trailed off as she spoke
"And what about the captain you referred to, she's an Elite Octoling right? Aren't they all loyal to Octo Valley?"
"Yes! But she thought that the Acting Leader wasn't doing any good for the Valley!"
"I'm sorry but this is just way too suspicious, in the first place I never heard of an entire Splatoon of Octarians trying to take over the rest of Octo Valley."
"I know it sounds strange, yes I questioned it myself while taking part, but it's the truth I swear! Why would I risk coming here if I was just going to lie?"
"Because maybe you are trying to lure me into a trap?"
Lynn's heart sank, Agent 3 didn't trust her at all, not that he had any reason too.
But he and the New Squidbeak Splatoon were the only ones she knew, that could help out. Lynn had prepared to offer anything in return, but perhaps it wasn't enough?
Still, she had to get help no matter what.
"No im not lying! If that was I would know where to go!"
"And how do I know that your splatoon isn't actually hiding nearby, ready to pounce the moment I step further into Octo Valley?"
"There is no one with me I promise! Here." Lynn grabbed the barrel of Inker's Hero Shot and pressed it against her chest.
"You can follow me into Octo Valley, if anyone tries to attack you then splat me right away!"
Inker however lowered his Hero shot the moment Lynn let go of it and turned away.
"Sorry I can't."
Inker walked away, but Lynn grabbed him by the arm and held him close, not wanting to let go of the only hope for her splatoon.
"Please help me out! I'm begging you, I'm telling the truth! my splatoon needs help and you are the only one who can do it!" at this point she was kneeling and begging for help
"Can you please let go of me, I told you it sounds too fishy."
Inker was still reluctant to go, but he had to admit, this ponytailed Octoling was very convincing.
Aside from that, it felt wrong to ignore someone who was literally on their knees pleading for aid.
Part of him wanted to go, turning down this pitiful looking girl was really hurting his conscience, but going by experience and logic it only made sense not to help one's enemy.
"Sorry but its just all too strange, in the first place I've never heard of an Octoling coming to make deals with an Inkling."
"Ah!" Lynn exclaimed as she recalled her previous deal with Kal at Melanin prison.
She called out to Agent 3 once more "Wait! This isn't the first time I tried making a deal with an Inkling, there was another, one at Melanin prison! A red Inkling! He was one of your friends right? Call him! Ask him about me, my name is Lynn! He should remember that name. I was one of three Octolings who gave him the map of Melanin!"
'A red Inkling, who else could that be but Kal.'
If she hadn't gotten Kal's colour correct Inker would have ignored her.
"Sigh, alright sure."
Inker once again dialed Kal's number.
"Hello?"
"Hi Kal."
"Did you forget to say something? I'll get Victoria."
"No not this time, I have something to ask you, did you meet an Octoling named Lynn at Melanin Prison?"
"Yeah, she was one of the three who gave me the map, what about it?"
"What does she look like?"
"I don't really remember, she was pretty much the average Octoling, oh but she did her hair in a ponytail. Why are you asking?"
"There is an Octoling here at Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack who calls herself Lynn and she's saying that she wants my help with rescuing the other Melanin prison guards."
"That's odd."
"I know right?"
"Hold on, i'll go over there now and see if she looks familiar."
"No there's no need" Inker began, but Kal hung up before he could finish.
"What did he say?" Lynn asked hopefully
"I think he's coming here, so just wait a moment."
"I can't, if we don't hurry we may not be able to rescue them in time!"
"Just wait, it doesn't take long to get to Inkopolis plaza anyways."
Kalus passed through the manhole shortly after, for some reason Victoria had chosen to follow.
Kal wasn't armed with anything, but Victoria was holding Kal's Splattershot.
As soon as Lynn saw Kal she waved
"Hey! Remember me from Melanin!? Me and my colleagues gave you that map!"
Kal recognised Lynn easily
"Yeah I remember." Kal turned to Inker "Yeah I met her once in Melanin."
"Okay then… Alright I guess I can take a look."
"Hold on!" Victoria cut in
"What?" Inker asked
"I want to know why the 202nd and its leader, who was known to be one of the best Elites tried to rebel against Octo Valley." Victoria said, staring at Lynn
"I'll explain it later, right now I just need help, who are you anyways? Another agent?"
In response, Victoria removed the helmet covering her tentacles, revealing to Lynn that she was also an Octoling.
"You! I remember meeting you at Nautilus! You were a spy for the Inklings?!" Lynn exclaimed
"I'm not a spy! And i'm not here because I have a choice okay, just making that clear."
"What do you mean? An Octoling living in Inkopolis? Since when was that a thing?"
"I'm here because I returned a favor and now im labelled as a traitor okay, now you tell me; why did your splatoon go rogue?"
"We didn't, we just planned to splat all the high ranking Octolings because Octavia was going to send us off on a suicide trip to Inkopolis."
"You really can't blame them if you did something like that."
At this point the conversation had gone on for so long that even Callie and Marie had time to arrive.
As usual, both were wearing their own hero suits, and held their respective hero weapons.
"What's going on gramps?" Callie asked then both she and Marie noticed Lynn.
"Who is that?" Marie wondered
Callie looked at Victoria "A friend of yours?"
"No, I don't know who she is, but apparently she's a traitor to Octo Valley." Victoria replied
"Says the traitor…"
"Who said that!?"
"Anyways" Lynn interrupted lowering herself once more, "Please help my splatoon, I don't care which one of you does it, nor if you don't manage to save everyone, just please do something!"
"What is she talking about?" Marie asked Inker
"Apparently her splatoon tried to overthrow the current leader of the Octarians."
"Well then shouldn't we leave this to the Octarian justice system?"
"No you can't!" Lynn said "What we did was high treason!"
"So? If you commit a crime you should expect to face consequences."
"We didn't have a choice, it was either that or follow orders and land in Inkopolis Plaza, it was suicide!"
That changed Callie and Marie's view of things pretty quickly.
"I still don't understand why you are in a hurry though, if you don't know where they are, why not give it a while until we find out what prison they are held in?"
To Inker, Callie, Marie and any other Inkling, there was no such thing as a death penalty, even though Kal and Inker had heard about it once before, they still didn't know who would be punished that way.
Luckily Lynn wasn't the only one who understood the Octarians.
"It's not like that." Victoria interjected "What they did was far worse than me telling you where Kal and the others were taken, so it is extremely likely that all the members of the 202nd splatoon will be executed for their crimes as soon as possible."
Lynn nodded
"Why didn't you mention that earlier!?" Inker exclaimed
"I thought it was obvious enough, is it not the same in Inkopolis?"
"No! Not at all! Anyways I guess you really are telling the truth and to be honest, I wanted to help you but I was just a bit suspicious."
"We will come along too." Callie said, referring to her and Marie
"There's really no need, I can handle this."
"That's what you thought last time, and the time before that and you ended up in big trouble both times, don't worry we don't mind helping out." Marie pointed out
"Yeah you can depend on us! After all we are kinda like your superiors, so don't be afraid to rely on us." Callie added
"Well okay then." Inker turned to Victoria one more time "Lynn doesn't know where her splatoon is, do you have any idea where they could be?"
"Well if they were going to be publicly executed they'd do it in the undercity, but if not, then they will probably just do it anywhere that is out of sight from anyone."
"In other words we need to search all of Octo Valley?"
"Umm, actually we were in Octo Canyon when we were caught, so maybe somewhere in between Octo Valley and Octo Canyon?" Lynn added
'Octo Canyon?'
"That's still a large area to cover, alright then since we have no other idea where to look we will start there."
"Thank you so much! As promised I will do anything you ask in return."
Cuttlefish, Victoria and Kal watched as Lynn left with all three agents to search of the 202nd splatoon.
Somewhere along the border of Octo Valley and Octo Canyon
In the middle of nowhere, far from any sort of Octarian civilization, several Octarian saucers landed. One contained Octavia, two Elite Octolings and the former captain, the others contained the captured members of her splatoon.
"Captain…." Claire said as she, along with many other Octarians were brought together.
"Not captain, it's just Emily now." Octavia corrected the Octoling.
It had been quite some time, the reserve army and a few troops from the regular army had brought them here, in the middle of nowhere.
Octavia and a few other Elites had also landed their saucer here and brought out the captured captain.
Unlike before, the captain no longer had seaweed on her head, her face was bruised from the beating she received from Octavia and she had her arms and tentacles tied up, but her legs were not, allowing her to walk along. Probably knowing that the captain would try to fight if she was untied, Octavia and the other Elite Octolings didn't bother to change her out of her Octoling gear.
The captain, who was always strong and dependable, was now the very image of a defeated soldier.
Actually, she wasn't even a captain anymore.
She was now nothing but a regular Octoling, who's name held no power.
"Claire… all of you, why are you all here?" the captain asked as soon as she saw her former subordinates all tied in similar fashion.
"Sorry captain, it was my fault, I was going to tell you that something was up, but I was too late." Claire hung her head in shame. "Therefore I could not bear to let you suffer Octavia's judgement alone."
"Not captain! And refer to me by rank!" Octavia shouted again
They were being lined up, with the former captain in front.
Octavia ordered the reserve army troops away to help bring everyone back to Octo Valley, while the two Elite Octolings along with the troops from the regular army started setting up Octosniper positions.
When they were done, four Octosnipers took position, they were not coloured the same as the regular army.
They would be the ones to execute the traitors.
As for Octavia and the two Elites accompanying her, they stood by to watch.
A group of Octotroopers watched the captives who were all kneeled on the ground with their tentacles and arms tied.
Two Octolings brought the former captain into position, in front of the Octosnipers.
Having already accepted fate, the former captain did nothing to resist.
Like the Octosnipers, the Octolings and Octotroopers watching the captives were not coloured the same as the regular army, that way they could splat the captain and her subordinates, but would not get splatted incase an Octosniper missed and hit them on accident.
From a safe position, Octavia spoke to the captain.
"Emily Vale, the attempted assassination of the Elite Octolings falls under the act of high treason against the Octarian race, along with that are acts of insubordination by disobeying direct orders from me, Octo Valley's Acting Leader."
The captain stayed silent as she watched Octavia give her verdict
"For committing these treacherous acts during a time of war, I as Acting Leader of Octo Valley sentence you and your subordinates to death, sentence to be carried out immediately."
Not exactly a fair trial.
The captain could do nothing but stare into the weapons of the four Octosnipers.
"Firing squad take aim." Octavia commanded
However as the Octosnipers charged for a shot, someone walked in front of the captain.
It was Claire, with her arms still tied together.
"Claire?"
She wasn't alone, a few more of the captain's captured subordinates also stood up and joined Claire.
Together they formed a wall around their trusted captain.
"Hey! Get them away from there!" Octavia yelled.
The two Octolings holding the captain in place tried to push Claire and the others away but to no avail.
The Octotroopers couldn't do much either, since they lacked arms.
Those who were not standing between the captain and the Octosnipers were still kneeling on the ground, but they watched with curiosity, wondering what their colleagues were doing.
"All of you, what are you doing?"
"Don't worry about us captain." Claire said
"She isn't a captain anymore, get back in line!" Octavia shouted
"Yes i'm not a captain anymore, just go back and wait your turn." the former captain added, having already accepted her fate.
"It doesn't matter, it was you who lead us against the Salmonids, you who lead us at Melanin prison, and you who we trusted with our lives. Regardless of what happens you will always be our captain."
One by one, the other captured Octarians standing with Claire shouted.
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
The Octarians who were still kneeling in line stood up, even though their tentacles and arms were tied, one by one they still stood up straight as if to salute their commanding officer one last time.
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
The Octosnipers were sure what to do, since now there was a wall of Octarians between them and their target: the former captain.
The two Elites accompanying Octavia also seemed to be at a loss, they looked at her expecting a command.
"What are you all doing!? Take care of this rebellious lot!" Octavia shouted
"Even if you say that, they are surprisingly resilient." an Elite commented
"Whatever! Forget executing them in order! Just shoot everyone!" Octavia commanded, and immediately, the Octosnipers started firing wildly at the wall of Octarians protecting the former captain.
What was supposed to be an orderly execution turned into a disorganised mess.
The subordinates of the captain were splatted one by one, yet each of them looked satisfied, as if they had no regrets.
As for Claire, she looked into the former captain face one last time.
She could see that she was touched by their act of loyalty.
"Everyone… thank you, I'm humbled to have served with you all." the captain said.
More and more Octarians were splatted
Claire didn't even need to turn around to know what was happening.
The wall they had formed around the captain was getting smaller and smaller.
Their end was near.
"Captain!" Claire said "You were right, Octavia isn't nearly as good of a leader as Octavio, she will pay for this someday. Know that when that day comes, the Octarians will look back and realize that what we did here was not a treasonous act, but an act for the good of our race. That is the day when they will remember us not as traitors, but as heroes."
She could hear her comrades getting splatted, she felt some ink splatter on her back, meaning that whoever was standing behind her had just been shot.
She was next.
Claire took a deep breath and with all her might she shouted at the top of her lungs
"WE WILL BE REMEMBERED!"
It was the last thing she would ever say.
The former captain watched as her loyal adjutant was splatted by shots meant for her.
There was no one left standing between her and the Octosnipers.
'What a loyal bunch, placing themselves in the way of my execution just to show their allegiance, I was truly blessed to have lead them.'
Silently, the former captain thanked Claire and all her other subordinates for their loyalty, their service, their determination and sacrifice.
Even though she had accepted her execution the moment she was caught, they still came back to see her off at the cost of their lives.
And when she was to be executed, they placed themselves in the way of the shots meant for her.
'How touching.'
The captain felt as if she might cry for the first time in her life.
'Might as well since there's nothing left for me, it was a good run…'
The former captain smiled as she stared down the three Octosnipers
Any moment now they would shoot, there would be a loud sound and then she would be splatted, no not splatted, be reunited with everyone else.
'Wait, three?'
One Octosniper had vanished.
The former captain heard the sound of a weapon firing, but strangely she was not splatted.
A second Octosniper had vanished, as for the remaining two, they were being ran down by a twin tailed girl with a roller.
Confused, the captain looked around.
And to her surprise she saw the three agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.
Agent 1 was rolling over the Octosnipers with her hero roller
Agent 2 had splatted the two Octolings holding her with extreme precision.
And Agent 3 had somehow returned from the dead to splat the Octotroopers who were shooting her other subordinates.
"Heh"
'Thank you, everyone who stood between me and the firing squad, you tossed away your futures to buy me a little more time to live, I swear that I shall repay your loyalty to me by avenging you all.'
"Captain! Are you alright!?" came the familiar voice on an Octoling.
Lynn had arrived and quickly untied the captain's arms and tentacles.
The captain felt her wrists, they were numb after being held together with rope for the past day, she was free, free to take revenge.
She ignored Agent 3, who was saying something to her.
She ignored Lynn who was asking if she was okay.
She grabbed an Octoshot from one of Octavia's fallen Octolings and ran after her.
"Quickly Acting Leader, you must evacuate!"
Octavia and the two Elites ran back to their saucer.
However coming at them was a vengeful captain.
As the saucer took off the captain leapt on board at the last moment.
"Octavia you coward! Come and face me!"
However before she could splat anyone her weapon was pushed away by the two Elites accompanying Octavia.
No matter, she could fight just as well without any weapons.
The Elites tried to splat her with their own Octoshots, but the captain wasn't affected since she had the same ink colour as them, before long the captain managed to disarm them both.
Then it became a wild melee, however the captain excelled at this too, the two Elites tried to hit her from both sides, but the captain went back and forth hitting them in various places.
She elbowed one of them, kicked the other and pushed herself back towards the other.
Everytime an Elite went for a weapon she would tackle them out of the way.
Octavia however opened the saucer's doors.
As the captain was distracted for a millisecond to see what Octavia had just did one of the Elites put her in a chokehold.
She wasn't worried however, as she knew how to easily break free, however she hadn't expected the Elite to throw herself out of the saucer while still holding on to her.
The captain and an Elite Octoling fell out and hit the ground.
Both stood back up immediately and fought again, the captain had no difficulty beating the Elite Octoling on her own.
With nothing but anger and revenge on her mind, the captain's hands clamped down on the Elite Octoling's neck, who helplessly clawed back at the captain, gasping for breath.
The captain would not yield, not when she had just seen her troops get slaughtered. The Elite Octoling tried to speak and plead for her life, but could not say a word, finally she went silent and the captain let go.
With that done the captain could only stare at Octavia's saucer, flying off into the distance.
"Dammit!"
"Captain?"
Running up to her was Lynn.
The captain recognized the Octoling from her splatoon.
"You, what did you do? Why are there Inklings with you?"
"I had to make a choice, they were the only ones who could get here in time and beat back the army."
"Yes I see that but still, enlisting the aid of Inklings is absurd! Who knows what they will demand in return."
"Just leave that to me, I begged them for aid and promised i'd do anything I could to repay them, but I never mentioned anything from you or anyone else. So I shall submit myself to them."
"You won't need to worry about that."
Agent 3 and the others caught up too.
They were followed by the few Octarians who hadn't gotten executed earlier.
It was the first time that the captain saw Agent 3 up close.
From reports she knew that Agent 3 was a somewhat short blue male Inkling, but she hadn't guessed that Agent 3 would be a kid.
'He's much younger than expected, I thought for sure that someone with his abilities would have to be a more experienced individual.'
"Agent 3…. you should be dead, I saw you get splatted in the Octobot's lair." The captain felt like splatting Agent 3 now, for the sake of all Octarians, but he had just saved her from execution, so maybe she'd spare him this once.
Not that she wanted to be rescued after seeing all those loyal Octarians get splatted in front of her.
"Heh, well I guess im full of surprises."
"Hmph, well then I suppose I should ask what you expect to gain out of this."
"Well nothing really."
"Don't lie, why else would you help an Octarian officer like me?"
"I don't know, Lynn was pretty desperate for help and the enemy of my enemy is my friend, I guess?"
"Pfft, if we went by that logic then you'd be allied with those zombie Octarains from the deepsea metro."
Standing behind Inker, Marie couldn't tolerate this captain's arrogant behavior anymore.
"Hey we came out here to save you despite being enemies, don't you have anything else to say?"
"If you are asking for my gratitude you have it, but that does not mean I need to like you Inklings."
Marie and the captain stared each other now for a moment before Callie and Lynn pried the two away from each other.
The captain gestured her surviving troops to follow, Lynn included as she went back to the spot where she was to be executed.
"Well then, i'm going back for the remains of those splatted before your arrival, you have no more business here, so leave." the captain said as she walked further away from the agents.
"Jeez, what is with that attitude Emily? Why do you hate us in the first place?" Inker asked
'What a dumb question, it should be obvious why we hate the Inklings so much.' the captain thought
'Huh? Strange…'
For some reason her mind went blank when she tried to remember why she hated Inklings.
Was there never a reason to begin with?
'No, impossible, nobody would feel so much anger on sight of the Inklings if they didn't have a reason for it. I must simply be tired.'
Since she couldn't reply to Inker's question she simply said:
"Call me Emily again and i'll tear you apart."
Octavia calling her by name was irritating enough, now some random Inkling was doing it too, guess he probably heard it from Lynn.
The captain left without another word, followed by the remaining soldiers of the 202nd who were not in hiding.
They had some work to do, identifying all those who were splatted earlier.
As they went through the piles of Octoling armor and Octotrooper hovercrafts, Lynn picked up a pair of goggles which had belonged to someone she knew.
A quick look at the recording from the goggles revealed that it belonged to Claire.
She knew it, when Claire said goodbye, she must have known she wasn't going to make it.
Lynn kneeled in front of a splotch of ink that was once Claire.
"Well I did it... I chose…. Tell me, did I make the right choice?" Lynn paused and gazed at the puddle of ink, as if expecting an answer.
'If only I had gotten here sooner.'
She collected Claire's goggles.
Normally nobody would care if anyone died, it was common in Octo Valley, but Lynn realised she would miss Claire, just like how she missed Madison, they were her friends in the Octarian army, the three had enlisted together, she and Madison ended up as regular Octolings, while Claire ranked up quicker and was the most capable out of them.
Lynn thought for sure that out of the three, Claire would have survived the longest.
Yet here she was, nothing but a puddle of ink in the middle of nowhere.
Lynn reached out and put a hand in the puddle of ink, ignoring the burning sensation from it.
She imagined her hand on Claire's shoulder and wished her farewell.
"Rest in peace, old friend…."
Lynn pulled her hand out from the puddle and shook the ink off, then joined the captain and the other survivors.
Some others were also mourning their fallen comrades, they had expected to all be splatted together, but now they had a second chance.
They thanked those who fell to buy them time.
The captain as well, was silently giving her thanks to all her fallen subordinates and bidding them farewell.
Once they had said their goodbyes, the captain ordered her troops to salvage what equipment they could and prepare to move out.
Lynn came over with a question "Umm captain, I'm probably in no position to say this, but shouldn't we be more grateful to the New Squidbeak Splatoon?"
"We could, but you can't let your guard down around them, there is no telling what they might demand as compensation. Besides they are still our enemies, once we deal with Octavia, they will be next." The captain pondered for a second "That being said I suppose it would make sense to use them against Octavia instead of our battered Splatoon…"
She didn't like it, but maybe just maybe they would strike another deal with them soon.
At least now they knew it was possible.
"What do you mean by "use them"?" came a voice
Surprised, the captain saw that Agent 3 had followed her.
"Didn't I say we had no more business with each other? Why are you still here?"
"Well you left before I was done talking, I'm glad I did though, what were you planning to do?"
"Nothing, leave it."
"Okay then, can I ask what you are doing here?"
"Paying our respects."
"Oh…"
Inker thought for a moment, then kneeled and clasped his hands together for the Octarians.
The sight of Agent 3, paying respects to fallen Octarians drew the attention of everyone around them.
This surprised the captain even more.
"And why are you doing that? You didn't know anyone here."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't feel sorry for their untimely demise, after all if I didn't doubt Lynn so much I could have gotten here earlier."
"Huh…"
Seeing this erased any thoughts of splatting Agent 3, at least for now.
"Well then, i'm off to find the rest of my splatoon. Don't bother looking for us, since you're acquainted with Lynn, i'll send her to make contact with you once we've found everyone."
"And then what?"
"Why do you care? Well I'm not done with Octavia yet, so i'll lay off any plans of taking over Inkopolis for the moment."
"You really don't need to keep making Inkopolis your enemy."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Well i'm just saying, Lynn wasn't the first Octoling I spoke with."
"So i've heard, there was that other girl who got lost in Inkopolis."
"Yeah about that, she's kinda living there now, of course the rest of the Inklings don't know she's an Octoling yet."
"Once again, what are you getting at?"
"I think it's possible to co-exist, both Inklings and Octarians can live together in peace, if you have nowhere else to go why not try Inkopolis?"
The captain scoffed at the idea.
"Is that why you agreed to rescue us? To promote your idea of coexistence? Then let me tell you, Octo Valley isn't nearly the same as Inkopolis, we have a large population living in poverty, a lack of natural resources and a dangerous environment, if we were to all suddenly move to Inkopolis it would be chaos for both sides. Maybe you can have one Octoling live there with no problems, but what about other species of Octarian? How will they find work? how will they communicate? Besides I doubt everyone in Inkopolis is fond of having Octarians around, the same can be said of Octo Valley. Don't bring such a first world problem like coexistence to a third world place like Octo Valley."
Once again, Inker found himself wondering if his idea of a unified Octarian Inkling city was impossible.
"No, I think we can forget about the past, shed away our old hatreds and everyone can live in harmony in Inkopolis."
'Even though he can best our army, Agent 3 is still such a kid.' the captain concluded from Inker's idealism.
"You are incredibly naive, if you think you can just stick anyone into Inkopolis and not run into problems then you are greatly mistaken. There could be interracial feuds between the populace, conflicting traditions, or there could be enemies of Inkopolis sneaking in by blending in with the crowds. For example did you know that Octavia already has someone working for her inside Inkopolis?"
"!?" Inker hadn't even considered that. Who in Inkopolis would help the Octarians?
"Who is it?"
The captain wagged a finger.
"Uhh-oh looks like you messed up, if you keep letting anyone into Inkopolis there will definitely be spies, criminals and other creatures with bad intentions coming in."
"Tell me, who is working for the Octarian army in Inkopolis?"
"I don't know, I simply heard that Octavia had a spy in Inkopolis, at least you are aware of it now, consider that my way thanking you for the timely rescue."
"What? There are thousands living in Inkopolis? How am I supposed to find one spy in all that?"
"Don't ask me, protecting Inkopolis is your job not mine. Honestly I was surprised you even came to my aid, were you expecting to gain more out of this? Or was it just the hormones of a healthy boy kicking in at the sight of a submissive Lynn?"
"I simply thought that is was the right thing to do."
"Hmph, there is no right or wrong, everyone including you just does whatever doesn't hold any unwanted consequences. If you really expected nothing more out of this ordeal then you should learn to be more cunning. Well i'm done talking to you, like I said I'll send Lynn to contact you once I have gathered the rest of the 202nd splatoon."
As if on cue, an Octotrooper came to report that they were ready to leave.
"Alright captain, we have identified all the fallen and collected their equipment, we also managed to salvage four hovercrafts and two Octoshots, we are now ready to move out."
The Octotrooper occasionally glanced over at Agent 3 while talking, it would seem that they still weren't all comfortable being near him.
"We move out now, Octavia would likely come back soon to pick up our trail so we need to be far away from here. Lynn!"
Lynn snapped to attention "Yes ma'am!"
"You are the only one here who didn't surrender, so I'm assuming you would have the best guess as to where the others are hiding, so i'll be depending on you to help us find the rest of the 202nd."
"Understood."
"Wait, you never answered my question from earlier; why do you hate us Inklings so much?"
The captain ignored Inker's question, partially because she could not answer it.
"Move out!"
The captain and her splatoon marched away.
Inker didn't bother going after them this time, he stood alone amongst the splotches of Ink.
'Is it really impossible for Octarians and Inklings to live in peace? Am I really just being naive for thinking that it's possible?'
Inker had kind of hoped that saving Lynn's splatoon meant finding a group of Octarians friendly to Inklings.
But of course things were not as simple as that, just cause they didn't like the current Octarian leader didn't mean they would like him and the Inklings.
Yet no matter what, he still wanted to believe that what he saw on sunken scroll #16 could become a reality again, because everytime he fought the Octarians, he couldn't help but think that he was doing something unnecessary.
'No, the Inklings and Octarians can live in peace again, the captain and those others probably just need some time to get to know us, just like Victoria did.'
Well at least he got some information from their captain, though he wasn't sure if it was trustworthy.
He would have to be careful from now on, if there was an Octarian spy in Inkopolis, then they would have to find out who it is quickly.
'I should let the others know too…' Inker sighed 'one problem after another, man this is getting really annoying.'
The Octoling stranded in Inkopolis
The squidnapping of his best friend
The rescuing of Lila
The Octarian army going after Victoria
The defense minister asking him to go back to Melanin
A sudden request from an Octoling to rescue her splatoon
And now having to find an Octarian spy in Inkopolis.
Recently it had been one troublesome event after another.
Inker hoped that there would be light at the end of the tunnel.
Assuring himself that all would be fine, Inker hurriedly left for Inkopolis.
If he didn't get back in time everyone would be worried.
Cuttlefish, Kalus, Callie, Marie, Sky, Neon.
Maybe Victoria too.
Besides, if there really was a spy in Inkopolis, they could all be in danger already…..
'If that captain was telling the truth, then I should thank her next time I see her.'
As Inker headed back for Inkopolis, the Octarian army and Octarian reserve army brought everyone back to Octo Valley.
The captain attempt to overthrow Octavia had failed completely, Octarian life reverted to the way it was before back under Octavia's rule.
They would keep an eye out of the runaway captain and her splatoon, but they weren't going to turn their attention away from Inkopolis either.
Like old habits, old hatreds die hard.
A/N: Wow, this chapter ended up being 9782 words long, the longest chapter so far...
So here we have the end of another story arc, although I think I have ran into a bit of a problem now: When I made this as a sequel to Old Hatreds, I planned on having it be kinda be the opposite of what happened in Behind Enemy Lines, instead of an Octoling in Inkopolis I planned on having Agent 3 experience Octo Valley, but somewhere along the line I ended up with several plots and tried to fit them all into one story, which lead to the story arcs and the constant changing of the story description.
At one point I wasn't even sure what the story was supposed to be about, Octo Valley? The reason why Octolings live in Inkopolis in Splatoon 2? How Octavio escaped?
Aside from that, I hadn't put much thought into Octavia's character since I hadn't planned on going this far, so Octavia ended up as your generic villain,
In other words, I think I accidentally turned Old Hatreds into an overly complicated story about your average dictator (Octavia) with no main plot and i'm not sure if I want to continue this mess.
I have quite a bit of free time over the next few days so ill be re reading this story and comparing it to other fanfics from this site, when I update the story again, I will either be continuing it, or be uploading a quick conclusion.
Stay fresh everyone!
OCs from part 4: The enemy of my enemy (Chapters 16-20)
Inklings
Inker: Blue Inkling boy, the New Squidbeak Splatoon's star agent. Despite finding himself in more and more situations where he is forced to fight the Octarians, Inker still holds the idea that maybe the two races could live peacefully. He is a skilled fighter, likely due to his experience as Agent 3 and a compassionate individual who would prefer putting only himself in harm's way to help others. (also known as Agent 3)
Kalus: Red Inkling boy, Inker's best friend/ childhood friend. Kalus was originally the average Inkling, having lived an easy life in Inkopolis, he used to think of the Octarians as nothing but the bad guys, until the events of Behind Enemy Lines and was somewhat arrogant at first. Kal learned that there were places far different from Inkopolis upon learning of Octo Valley, since then he grew to be more compassionate and tries to share the joy of living in Inkopolis, he similar to Inker in a way. However Kalus lacks Inker's combat skill and idealism.(also known as Kal)
Sky: Cyan Inkling boy, the youngest of his friend group. Sky is self aware and tends to stay away from things he cannot do, leaving them to someone capable. In a way Sky is a sort of perfectionist, who prefers not to do anything unless he is absolutely sure of the outcome. However since Sky tends to act only on certainties, he tends to be bad at fast paced combat where quick decisions matter most, so he prefers to stay on the sidelines and have a low sense of presence.
Neon: Bright Green Inkling girl, one of Kalus, Inker and Sky's friends. Neon is a happy go lucky Inkling, she often does whatever seems most amusing at the moment without thinking of consequences. Neon often acts on instinct, and her instinct is pretty good, it was good enough to make her the highest ranked turf war player of her friend group and good enough so that she could fight against the Octarian army as good as anyone in the New Squidbeak splatoon. Neon is usually a high profile individual, but recently she seems to have vanished from her friend group…..
Laven: light purple Inkling boy. He met Inker and co during the squidnapping incident and had gotten on friendly terms with them all. Laven cares deeply for his little sister Lila, after Lila's return from Octo Valley, Laven, along with several other Inklings have been calling for a new Inkopolis army to protect them from the Octarian threat.
Arcus: Black Inkling man, Arcus Hilgendorf is Inkopolis' minister of defense, his parents were part of Cap'n Cuttlefish's first Squidbeak Splatoon and so he is like family to Cap'n Cuttlefish. Recently he was faced with the possibility of rearming Inkopolis, though it is unclear whether he is for or against it.
Octarians:
Victoria: Octoling, originally an average Octoling soldier, Victoria wandered into Inkopolis on accident, she was originally distrustful of Kalus and the other Inklings, but have come to learn that they are not the evil creatures Octavio had them made out to be. Victoria is often serious calm and cunning, choosing never to outright stand against anyone, however when things go wrong, Victoria will often lose her cool.
Octavia: Elite Octoling, Acting Leader of Octo Valley, Octavia claims to be simply acting as a backup leader for Octavio, yet seems to not care about her former leader at all. Octavia does not do a very good job of leading the Octarian army, though she does manage to accomplish a few things. Octavia holds her rank in high regard and finds it offensive when her rank is ignored. Octavia also chooses an oppressive way of leadership, choosing to make examples of those who step out of line.
The captain: Elite Octoling. A well respected captain of the Octarian army, she is incredibly skilled in combat and leads a splatoon of Octarians consisting mainly of Octotroopers and Octolings. The captain cares for her troops and would go as far as to commit treason if it meant saving her troops. Because of this, Octarians serving under the captain are loyal to her, to the point where they staged a coup d'etat in Octo Valley. Unfortunately the captain seems to be quite the unlucky individual, as a string of convenient events often ruin her plans. Like all Elite Octolings, she hates Inklings and the first thing that comes to mind when seeing one is to splat them, although she can't seem to figure out why. (Also known as Emily Vale)
Violet: Purple Octoling, Victoria's roommate, due to being constantly fed Octarian propaganda, she sees the Inklings as a scary bunch, especially Agent 3. A somewhat cowardly Octoling, Violet ratted out Victoria to the Octarian army and got Victoria's family killed in the process. Feeling guilt from her actions, Violet is seeking a way to atone for her mistakes.
Claire (deceased): Octoling, the captain's adjutant, she relays information to her commanding officer and briefs her on current events. Claire is loyal to her captain and was willing to follow her without question. Claire often emphasizes that one should make their own decisions instead of letting someone else choose for them, she demonstrates this by always knowing what she believes and wants. Claire also knows how to clearly read one's emotions, which helps her spot lies and uncertainty among the troops. In a final act of loyalty to the captain, Claire placed herself between the captain and the firing squad that was supposed to execute her, assuring her captain that all was fine and that they would someday be remembered, before getting splatted by shots meant for the captain.
Lynn: Octoling, a soldier serving under the same captain as Claire. Lynn is as loyal as they come and will gladly follow orders, though this is revealed to be because Lynn doubts her own decision making ability. She is good friends with Claire who would often tell her to make decisions on her own. Finally, when Octavia was revealed to be alive and captured the captain, Lynn made a choice, unlike the others who all chose to either surrender or run away, Lynn seeked help from the New Squidbeak Splatoon to save Claire, the captain and the rest of her splatoon. By the time she arrived though, Claire was already splatted, Lynn asked her friend if she made the right choice, having finally taken her advice to heart.
Maria Holter (deceased): Octoling, Victoria's mother and a former Elite Octoling. Maria grew up in the hands of a loving family, but Octo Valley's deteriorating state was too dangerous, her family was killed by the everyday accidents of Octo Valley and as a result she was devastated therefore she decided to raise Victoria without that same love, that way Victoria would not miss her if she died the same way her family did. Despite treating Victoria coldly, Maria loved her and was ready to do anything to guarantee her future, so when Elite Octolings came to her house searching for Victoria, she and her husband Robert set their own home on fire, burning the Elite Octolings alive and killing themselves in the process, they died happily in each other's arms, content with their lives.
Robert Holter (deceased): Octoling, Victoria's father and a schoolteacher in Octo Valley. Robert knew Maria from a young age and the two grew close, when Maria lost her whole family in one of Octo Valley's accidents, he promised he would never leave her side, later marrying her. He and Maria raised Victoria coldly so that she would not get too attached to them and thus would not miss them if they died, despite that both he and Maria disliked the way they raised Victoria as it drove the family apart. Robert was given a chance to escape with Victoria and Kalus when the Octarian army started hunting Victoria, but he decided to stay true to his promise and stay by his wife's side till the end. He and Maria set their house on fire, burning the Octarians searching for Victoria and killing themselves in the process. Robert and Maria died in each other's arms, happy with the life they had.